Greta LaFleur’s lecture explicitly attempted to trace the relationships between sexuality, human sexual diversity, humoralism, and the environment. In her discussion, Professor LaFleur explained the roles of sexuality in the 18th century as being more directly related to the environment. She explained how humans have adapted sexually as our relationships with both sex and the environments around us have changed. Handmaidens in historical contexts represented the first developments of sexuality before sexuality was a known concept. They acted as a symbol of sexual behavior in a way that marital sex was not. Professor LaFleur argued that there was sex before sexuality, but the prevalence and social relevance of sex implied that sexuality existed. She outlined terms that were associated with sex and sexuality during the 18th century to be socially and culturally relevant in literature although they were not understood as terms of sexuality. These included terms that pointed to sexual exchanges between people that would not be considered as such today including conversation. In reflection, I now realize that in a college context, people might refer to a couple as “talking” when they really mean that the two are “hooking-up” or in sexual relation. This has allowed me to question how much our sexual vocabulary has actually changed.
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